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Critical Metaphor Analysis as a Means of (Re)construction of Knowledge Creation
The chapter aims to investigate the creation of specialised knowledge in different disciplinary contexts, focusing on the interplay between the knowledge of individuals and knowledge as a social phenomenon. Central in the current study is the role of tacit knowledge and its creation when developing disciplinary knowledge. The basics are Polanyi’s (1958, Personal knowledge: Towards a post-critical philosophy. London, Routledge; 1966, The tacit dimension. London, Routledge) idea of personal and tacit knowledge, Nonaka’s (1994, Organization Science 5:14–37) model of knowledge creation cycle, Gollner’s (2006, The anatomy of knowledge. Establishing a useful definition of knowledge and laying out the ways it makes sense to speak of Knowledge management as a practice. Ottawa, Canada) conception of the knowledge dynamic and Aristotelian typology of knowledge (Aristotle 1983, Nikomakhova etika [Nicomachean Ethics]. Sochineniya: v 4-kh t. [Works in 4 vols. Vol. 4]. Moscow, Mysl Publ.; pp. 53–293).
In this chapter, we contribute to the discussion by bringing a cognitive linguistic approach to investigating tacit knowledge in different disciplinary contexts, that is, conceptions and attitudes of university students majoring in Software Engineering, Business Informatics, Economics, Management and Law. The main research findings corroborate the earlier findings obtained in the studies that have examined tacit knowledge within the framework of organisational knowledge creation and cognitive metaphor studies. The results reported here confirm the hypothesis that critical metaphor analysis might allow for (re)construction of knowledge creation in different disciplinary contexts.
Critical metaphor analysis allows us to approach learners’ conceptualisation by analysing metaphors by source domain in the narratives written by Russian EFL learners and non-metaphorical language from the corpus of educational programmes through the procedures of identification, interpretation and explanation. The overall analysis enables us to ascertain the extent to which metaphors are accountable for constructing relations of social domination (ideology) and reveal the convergence and divergence of knowledge creation in the groups of students of different major disciplines.
The chapter is structured as follows: first, it overviews knowledge creation studies; second, it gives the account of employing critical metaphor analysis to approach learners’ conceptualisation. This is followed by analysing metaphors by source domain in the narratives written by Russian EFL learners and non-metaphorical language from the corpus of educational programs through the procedures of identification, interpretation and explanation; finally, the data analysis is complemented by the discussion of the Knowledge creation model constructed in the current study.